May 2012

May 31, 2012

For the sake of this post I wish I had a photo of me on the beach. I'm pretty neurotic when it comes to sun protection. Part of it is that I live in Arizona where the sun is shining on us almost all 365 days a the year! When I started having my tattoos removed tan skin would make the removal process longer and harder to do. Then when I had Presley and now I'm pretty much 24/7 carrier of sun protection.

I use to buy some sunblock online that was all natural, smelled great, safe for babies but left my face greasy looking. Recently I just found this new sunblock that I am super excited about! The sunblock is SPF 50 and it's so light I apply it every morning before I put on my base makeup. The best part is, it's skin tone! Yes, so even if I don't put on makeup my skin has a nice even tone with out a oily white beach look.

The other product is a SPF 50 powered. This is something you would use to reapply through out the day and again, it's not an oily white mess! I love both of these products and I keep them in my purse at all times... The sunblock is made by SkinCeuticals and was very reasonable in price. I wouldn't use this for my entire body if I was going to the beach (that would be $$) but it's a good way to keep your face protected on a daily basis. The powder is made by SciencePro and also had a good price point.

I got these from Ashley at Skin Spa in Scottsdale. She's an aesthetician there and has been so much fun to get to know. I love seeing her and she always helps me without pushing to "sell me" on something. Here is the number 480-905-8485. I'm sure you could just buy the products if thats all you were looking for!

May 24, 2012

This is my first adventure into paleo desserts. I haven't tried them in the past because I thought they were just a waste of time. And if I wanted a brownie I would have one on the weekend my "paleo free" time! Now that I'm doing this paleo challenge I've had to get creative. So here is my second attempt on these brownies.

The first attempt was some what of a failure, I think I let the brownies cook for too long. It's hard to tell because they don't rise or change color. The recipe does call for them to bake for 20-25 minutes. I baked them for 15 and I thought they were a little dry. Today I made a new batch and I baked them for 10 minutes. When I pulled them out they were baked on the outside shell and still gooey on the inside. I let them cool and they were much better this time around!

Another thing I did was add some small overripe strawberry chunks to half the batter (I didn't want to ruin the whole batch if this experiment failed). This gave a little sweeter kick to each bite. So now for the questions are they as good as a traditional brownie. NO. Don't serve these to your kids and expect them not to notice. Are they good? Yes! Right now she sweetest part of my day is my fish oil so this will be a welcomed addition.

The recipe calls for melted chocolate chips. For my paleo challenge chocolate is not allowed so I had to use cocoa powder. If you follow the recipe maybe yours will be sweeter, I'm not sure. I think I will continue to experiment with different fruits in this brownie. Maybe I can add my overripe bananas to the next batch!

May 23, 2012

PS the recipe says to puree this. I just cut it into small pieces, I like a little texture.

precooked layer one

precooked finished tray (only two layers)

Oh my goodness this is so amazing!

So I'm doing this paleo challenge with my gym for 6 weeks. Ugh, to be honest when I signed up I was told it was a month. I spent the first week bitter about finding out it was 6 weeks (or maybe I was just having sugar with drawls)... Anyway, I figured out quickly I'm going to have to get more creative with my meals.

Although I have been doing my form of paleo for almost two years I never was super strict. I ate what ever I wanted on weekends and during the week I wasn't ever core hard paleo. I had cheese in my salads and I am the only cave woman I know that drank Coke~Cola. I was pretty good with how I did my paleo but once I got injured, (didn't workout as much) and then was eating poorly on weekends I felt my body fat shoot up!..

So now here I am on this six week paleo competition and I needed to get creative. My fellow CrossFitter and paleo enthusiast Iris gave me the link to this recipe. And let me tell you, it is the bomb.com! I love it! I wasn't even sure I would like it as I was cooking it to be honest. But it's a great replacement for the real thing and it was so much better than I expected.

The meal prep did take some time. I can't tell you how much exactly because I was chatting with a girlfriend for part of it (Hi Mel!) and I also made dessert too. This is for sure a meal you need to plan in advance (just like a regular lasagna and it is worth it! Good thing too because I bought four butternut squash (even though it called for one) I didn't think it would go so far! However next time I'm making double so I have a few more left overs...

May 19, 2012

Presley and her friends had a dance recital this weekend. We decided we were going to have their hair done before the recital and I would take a few photos of the girls. I figured the photos at the salon would be fun and make the whole "event" of it all more exciting. To be honest seeng them get their hair done made me want to be pampered a bit myself! I was so busy yesterday I didn't even have time to put on my make up or curl my hair!... OK enough about me!...

After the salon we took a few photos of the girls. I think us Moms would of liked a few more but the girls were more rambuncious than expected. So we got just a few then went off to a quick dinner then to the recital. I was able to find a seat in the front but off to the side of the stage. So right before Presley's group was to take the stage I could see them waiting to come on.

My heart started to race, I was so nervous for my little girl. It made me laugh that I was so nervous and excited for her. I don't even know what I was so nervous about. It really doesn't matter to me if she knows the routine or not. I'm just so proud of her... Maybe as she grows up I'll beable to find the words to explain my feelings of seeing her on stage.

As much as she complains about going to dance class she always enjoys the recital! Hopefully the summer off will help her get excited about dance class next year.

May 17, 2012

In heat of the Arizona summer is rolling in and my session days are coming to an end (here in AZ). I'm so glad I was able to photograph this adorable little family visiting from Canada! They heard about me from another Canadian family I photographed during the holidays. Haha, I'm tempted to start saying "process" and "about" with a Canadian accent...

We did the photo session early in the morning trying to beat the heat and we still ended up stopping during the session to get little Jakey indoors (with for some a/c). They were a lot of fun to photograph and great to learn about them and their little family. Jake was a typical rambunctious tot interested in everything but me or my camera. Which is quite all right and pretty much expected. We were able to get a few of him playing, looking at the camera (even if it was for sweets) and sitting with Mom & Dad.

I had an new idea (the second photo above) after seening a similar photo somewhere on fb. One of my crafty photog friends took a photo with the note card hanging in a tree saying, I love you with the couple in the background. I thought it was cute and changed it up a bit. I had the couple both finish the sentance, "I love you because"... I didn't let the other see what each of them wrote until after. That made for another sweet photo...

I'm having fun editing their images and I look forward to putting together their mini album they have already ordered. I had a great time with them and hope to photograph them and adorable lil' Jakey again!

May 09, 2012

Since starting to follow the paleo diet (one year ago Aug) I have cut out milk. I still "cheat" with other dairy products on the weekend but have for the most part cut out milk. Now my daughter loved milk and I didn't want to take that away from her. As is she only drank water and milk (no juice or soda).

I've been trying to find an alternative for about three years now. I don't think soy is good for her (or humans in general) so we don't do soy milk. And when we tried almond and coconut milk a few years ago Presley would take one sip and then give it back to me. She would accuse me of watering it down (I use to do that too). So until lately she drank a glass of milk a day.

Recently we were out running around and I grabbed her some chocolate flavored coconut milk. It had been awhile since she had tried it and maybe she would like it. Plus this was chocolate, something I hadn't tried before. And what do you know, she liked it. And I love it! It's a pretty filling and tasty treat.

I did have some reservations about there being too much sugar in the almond milk. But it's so thick that I add 50% water and she hasn't said a word. Almond milk also has plenty of calcium so that's not a concern for me. She has had a few glasses of just the plain almond milk and when she mentioned it tasting funny I explained why it's different and that it's better for her. So she did drink it but I had some guilt (why? A Mothers curse I think) so she's getting the watered down chocolate flavored coconut or almond milk from now on. Until I can get over the guilt then we'll move to plain...

I never realized almond milk is a great source for calcium! We are so conditioned to think that dairy is the only answer out there. So I always thought I'd have to deny her calcium to get her off the dairy milk. That was a concern because she is a growing child! Thank goodness that fear is gone.

I wanted to blog about the almond and coconut milk because we had tried these before. And not only were they harder to find then but she didn't like them then. Here we are she's a little older, she likes them now and they are so much easier to find... I'm really hoping our food industry is moving towards I don't know real food that's safe for human consumption... Which reminds me of my next post, pink slime- yum!

May 07, 2012

I was in a party store to buy a few things for Presley's last day of school party. While I was shopping I was surprised to hear a mother screaming and cursing at her toddler (she was still not able to speak). The little girl was standing up in the shopping cart trying to reach for something. I felt so bad for the little girl, it was completely normal behavior for a child her age... I decided I would hang around the aisle a bit to make sure she (the little girl was ok). After a few minutes past I walked to the next aisle.

As I shopped I tried to figure out what I would do if she continued to scream and curse at the toddler or hit her. Not saying anything was not something I could do. Approaching her aggressively wasn't an option either. Finally I decided I would ask the woman to take a minute, take a deep breath and try to be patient. And hopefully talk to her long enough to calm her down...

So a couple minutes later I hear the little one start to cry again. As I'm walking pass the woman and her female friend they get frustrated again and the mother aggressively grabs the child out of the shopping cart. She is in the process of cursing and screaming at the child. And said, "Excuse me, I know children are frustrating but can you just take a minute"... That's when she cuts me off and starts screaming and cursing at me. The whole time I'm thinking I just hope she can tell I'm not attacking her, or I looked concerned. Because I was, I just wanted to give her enough time to calm down before it escalated further.

She then says to me she is the mother and she can curse at her child if she wants. What am I going to do about it. The other woman is yelling at me too. The baby stopped crying and just stared. I said, I just don't think it's a good idea to curse at her. Then she asked me if there was a law against cursing at your child!.. I said no but I think you need to calm down. Again they asked me what I was going to do and I told them, I was calling the cops they dared me and I started dialing the cops right in front of them...

Surprising enough they didn't rush out of the store they stayed, the whole 15 minutes it took for a cop to get there. I told the cop what happened, and the store manager step out and said she saw it and didn't like that she was cursing in front of the customers (which included children). He walked over ans spoke with the mother and child.

I didn't hear what the cop told the mother of this little girl but she (the mother) was crying at this point. It's my hope that she realized then it's not ok to curse at a child. Judging her or get her in serious trouble wasn't something I wanted to do. Who knows how she was raised or what her life is like. I just wanted to calm her down and I hope the little one was safer leaving with a mom that is calm rather than screaming.

Seeing that this situation when south so fast I would definitely step in again but I'd do it differently. Hopefully I could buy enough time for the parent to realize I wasn't a threat and then go from there. The woman's friend was still defending the behavior as they were leaving but I think it hit home with the mother. As a mother I to tell a cop (or anyone) that I was screaming and cursing ("sit the f down" & "I'm going to f hit you" etc) at my toddler would be enough to make me second guess it...

This episode had me upset. I don't even want to think what some children have to endure in their life time...

I was very excited that Presley adores horses as much as she does. Although I didn't push her into it I for sure have been a huge supporter of her love of horses. I have encouraged her to draw from a very young age, like the horses it (art) is just all around her. Presley's grandmother Sue is a wonderful artist and has paintings in her home and we have several of her works of art in our home. Coloring, drawing and creating is just something we do!

This past weekend in Payson, Arizona I snapped the photo above of Presley. She had just climbed up on her grandmothers stool and just stared at the painting Sue is currently working on. I wondered what she was thinking...

I know what I was thinking, will she really grow up to be an artist? Will she be ok (secure) doing that?.. As much as I love it (art and photography) as her mother those pesky fear based thoughts sneak in. She could have a more secure future with a degree in medicine, a law degree or even a teacher... Haha, how does this happen? After I decided I would chase my dream I knew I would encourage any young person I came in contact with to do the same. And in a blink of an eye, here I am talking about "security". It was about then that I snapped out of it...

What I know for sure now is that I have at least 10 years to work on keeping my fears out of her way... She's going to be great and have a great life doing whatever it is that she loves! I will remind myself what is important is that she is safe, happy and does well for her community.

May 01, 2012

A lot of my favorite ideas (haha, I don't want to say best) come about when I'm slipping away to sleep or even in some my dreams. It sounds crazy but I 've heard that your subconscious mind is working with out you getting in the way of it (or something like that). This is how this idea came to mind today.

Like most of you I use my camera phone a lot and snap tons of photos I don't (allow myself to) erase at don't love the quality enough to print. All I do is admire them or post them to Facebook only to be forgotten days later. Then this collage idea occurred to me this morning! I don't know if there is a product out there like this but I love it (if I do say so myself).

The thing I love about this collage is that these photos (for the most part) don't really mean much on their own, they are just fun snapshots. However grouped together it's a fun little peek into what our year has been like so far... They mean more to me all put together. I'm reminded of our trips, yummy food, our flowers we planted, my grandmother and little Mr. Lenny (our new dog).

It's sort of funny, I found myself importing my photos taken with my SLR camera on to my phone for edits! What?!... This is a test collage and I have plans for my next one already. These are a bit out of order because I imported a few etc. This next time around I already have my system set up to organize and store them so I can simply import them (and they will be in order).

Next time I may add more photos and depending on how this one turns out I may change the color to blend them all so they look more the same... Or not we will see... I wanted to post this because I think it could be a fun do it yourself type project!